new materialism
{{Short description|Field within contemporary philosophy}}
New materialism is a term which refers to several theoretical perspectives within contemporary philosophy that attempt to rework the conventional ontological understanding of the material world. While many philosophical tendencies are associated with new materialism, in such a way that the movement resists a single definition, its common characteristics include a rejection of essentialism, representationalism, and anthropocentrism as well as the dualistic boundaries between nature/culture; subject/object; and human/non-human.{{Cite journal |last=Tuin |first=Rick Dolphijn and Iris van der |date=2012 |title=New Materialism: Interviews & Cartographies |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/o/ohp/11515701.0001.001/1:5.2/--new-materialism-interviews-cartographies?rgn=div2;view=fulltext |journal=New Metaphysics |language=en |doi=10.3998/ohp.11515701.0001.001|hdl=2027/spo.11515701.0001.001 |hdl-access=free }} Instead, new materialists emphasize how fixed entities and apparently closed systems are produced through dynamic relations and processes, considering the distribution of agency through the interaction of heterogeneous forces.{{Cite web |title=New Materialism |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780190221911/obo-9780190221911-0016.xml |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=obo |language=en}} The movement has influenced a wide variety of new articulations between intellectual currents in science and philosophy, in fields such as science and technology studies, as well as systems science.
Origin
The term was independently coined by Manuel DeLanda and Rosi Braidotti during the second half of the 1990s to identify an emerging body of interdisciplinary theory that sought to overcome the post-structuralist emphasis on discourse, while drawing on the work of Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari, and Gilbert Simondon in seeking to establish a materialist ontology that prioritizes processes of individuation.{{Sfn|Tuin|Dolphijn|2012|p=96}}
Reception
New materialism has been well-received by some individuals in a wide range of disciplines in contemporary academia, from environmental studies to philosophy. Frequently referenced works include Karen Barad's Meeting the Universe Halfway{{Cite book |last=Barad |first=Karen |title=Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning |date=2007 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-3917-5 |location=Durham London}} and Jane Bennett's Vibrant Matter{{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=Jane |title=Vibrant Matter: A Political Ecology of Things |date=2010 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-4619-7 |series=A John Hope Franklin Center book |location=Durham London}}. New Materialists emphasise how Cartesian binaries around human and nature have caused many issues in the world by ignoring social complexity.{{Cite journal |last=Höppner |first=Grit |date=2017-09-13 |title=Rethinking Socialization Research through the Lens of New Materialism |journal=Frontiers in Sociology |volume=2 |doi=10.3389/fsoc.2017.00013 |doi-access=free |issn=2297-7775}} New materialism has been championed for its more integrated approach that considers material and immaterial, biological, and social aspects as interconnected processes rather than distinct entities.
Criticism
Ecologist Andreas Malm has called New Materialism 'idealism of the most useless sort', stating that the approach has little use for climate action or changing our relationship with nature, since it denies distinctions between humanity and nature. Malm argues that this supports the status quo rather than challenging it.{{Cite book |last=Malm |first=Andreas |title=The Progress of This Storm: Nature and Society in a Warming World |date=2020 |publisher=Verso |isbn=978-1-78873-940-5 |edition=Paperback first published |location=London Brooklyn, NY}} He also expresses frustration with the writing style of many New Materialists, claiming that they resist distinctions between things, making their writing impenetrable.
Associated theorists
See also
References
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= Bibliography =
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- {{Cite book|last=Vários|chapter=|title=Plastic materialities: Politics, legality, and metamorphosis in the work of Catherine Malabou|series=|location=|publisher=Duke University Press|date=2015|pages=}}
- {{cite book|date=2010|first1=Diana|first2=Samantha|language=en|last1=Coole|last2=Frost|publisher=Duke University Press|title=New materialisms: Ontology, agency, and politics|trans-title=Novos materialismos: Ontologia, agência, e política}}
- {{cite journal|date=2014|first=Isabel Cristina|last=de Moura Carvalho|number=1|periodical=Pesquisa em Educação Ambiental|title=A perspectiva das pedras: considerações sobre os novos materialismos e as epistemologias ecológicas|url=https://www.periodicos.rc.biblioteca.unesp.br/index.php/pesquisa/article/view/8853|volume=9}}
- {{cite journal|date=2019|first=Iris|last=Van Der Tuin|number=4|periodical=Philosophy Today|title=New concepts for materialism: Introduction|url=https://www.pdcnet.org/philtoday/content/philtoday_2019_0063_0004_0815_0822|volume=63}}
- {{cite book|date=2012|first1=Iris van der|first2=Rick|last1=Tuin|last2=Dolphijn|publisher=Open humanities press|title=New materialism: Interviews & cartographies}}
- {{cite journal|date=2015|first=Mónica Cano|last=Abadía|periodical=Oxímora. Revista Internacional de Ética y Política|title=Nuevos materialismos: hacia feminismos no dualistas|issue=7 |pages=34–47 |url=https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/oximora/article/view/14416}}
- {{cite journal|date=2015|first=Mariela|last=Solana|periodical=Cuadernos de filosofía|title=Relatos sobre el surgimiento del giro afectivo y el nuevo materialismo: ¿está agotado el giro lingüístico?|doi=10.34096/cf.n69.6117 |doi-broken-date=2024-11-02 |url=https://www.oalib.com/paper/6687473 }}
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